Last night, I finished reading Johanna Lindsey's Captive of My Desire. It was okay. I was able to put it down without much trouble and probably could have left it unread. Except for the fact that I've accepted a challenge to read at least a book a week. So I pushed through to finish it.
Unless you're a die-hard fan of that author I wouldn't bother with this particular title.
Friday, March 7, 2008
Thursday, March 6, 2008
It's Snowing!
Yes, it's snowing in Texas. Something that happens usually once a year, and then not even what people who live in the upper half/third of of our United States that really do get snow would consider snow.
But for us here in Texas, it's alternately a nightmare as our state has no equipment to handle the ice and slush, and a delight for kids who get out of school. And for those of us who have moved away from snowier regions and truly miss the beauty of a freshly fallen snow, it's just wonderful.
This is the third "major" snow fall for our area this (school-based) year. It actually snowed on Thanksgiving. Large lovely flakes that just added to the holiday atmosphere.
This past Monday, some parts of our area (not mine, however) received a decent covering, and now today. Right now, we're getting the frozen rain/sleet, but it's supposed to change to real snow later on. We've sent our employees home for the day and now all is quiet.
I'm going to go hole up in my bed with some hot cider and my laptop and work on my current WIP.
What would you do on a cold rainy/snowy day, if you could do anything you wanted?
But for us here in Texas, it's alternately a nightmare as our state has no equipment to handle the ice and slush, and a delight for kids who get out of school. And for those of us who have moved away from snowier regions and truly miss the beauty of a freshly fallen snow, it's just wonderful.
This is the third "major" snow fall for our area this (school-based) year. It actually snowed on Thanksgiving. Large lovely flakes that just added to the holiday atmosphere.
This past Monday, some parts of our area (not mine, however) received a decent covering, and now today. Right now, we're getting the frozen rain/sleet, but it's supposed to change to real snow later on. We've sent our employees home for the day and now all is quiet.
I'm going to go hole up in my bed with some hot cider and my laptop and work on my current WIP.
What would you do on a cold rainy/snowy day, if you could do anything you wanted?
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
It's time to vote!
If you're a registered voter, please go out and vote today. This may be one of the most crucial election years ever and you should be a part of it. Exercise your right to participate in one of things that makes our country one of the greatest nations on earth - I'm not saying we're perfect and that we don't have issues, but...
I have my voter's registration card and my map to my local polling place. I've researched the presidential candidates, and I'm ready to make my choice.
I am sad to say, though, I know nothing about any issues that may be on my ballot, or any of the candidates running for positions in my local area. :(
Did you vote?
I have my voter's registration card and my map to my local polling place. I've researched the presidential candidates, and I'm ready to make my choice.
I am sad to say, though, I know nothing about any issues that may be on my ballot, or any of the candidates running for positions in my local area. :(
Did you vote?
Monday, March 3, 2008
When is enough enough...?
And when will we turn the corner?
It *all* started... about two years ago. Okay, not entirely. I'll only take you back to June of 2007 & we'll focus just on vehicles. Our (okay, my...) beloved Dodge Durango had a problem. The oil light came on and long story short, we thought we were slick by finding a local mechanic who could replace the engine cheaper than the dealership. And getting a two-fer on top of that. My brother had bottomed out his '99 Plymouth Breeze before he moved back to Nebraska, so for the cost of the dealership fixing just the Durango, this mechanic would fix them both for just slightly more.
Well... we got the Breeze fixed first because it was cheaper and we needed a second vehicle back. We had several other financial expenditures last summer as well, but we came through okay. Made it through the holidays without going into further debt.
Back to the car... we finally have the funds to get the Durango fixed and give the guy the go ahead. So we finally get it back, but the oil light keeps coming back on and the car is filthy and the paint is scratched and marred from all the time it was in this guy's "care". Bottom line: it wsn't fixed; he didn't put in a new engine, and he ends up getting evicted from his garage building the day we tow it back there to be looked at again. So we tow it back home. Then we tow it to the dealership. (That's $75 times 3.) Well, they're not going to re-use any of the components because who knows where they came from. So another $7k to $10K if we want the dealership to fix it.
But we need a third car. During all this mess we've hired on a second full time tech who needs a vehicle he can use. But I also need a car to run errands like pick kids up from school...
Fast forward to two weeks ago. Okay we have some extra money saved. We're going to buy a couple of used cars. So my hubby searches Craig's List and we find a pair of heaps that meet our needs. Last Monday, we buy an '88 GMC Suburban. It needs to be registered so we park it in front of our house, as close to the neighbor's property line as we can to leave room for our employees to park during the day too.... Last Tuesday we buy a '99 Dodge 1500 pickup truck. Nice. I'm happy I have a truck finally. And it's paid for. No additional debt.
Now in the mean time, the tranny on the Breeze is acting up, so there's another $800. The Scion needs another oil change (we put alot of miles on our cars) and the tire went flat. (Luckily we use Discount Tires and they fixed that one for free.)
Sunday morning I jump in my new (to me) truck and... it doesn't start. Argh. Dead battery. Okay. Easily fixed, but another $100. And today? Our suburban was stolen from in front of our house in the middle of the night, in the middle of a sweep of thunderstorms.
We call the police and they miraculously find it within hours, but... it's completely un-drivable. So another car and $3K gone...
When will it all end?
Addendum (3/6/2008):
Good news and bad... The bad: Tuesday afternoon, the truck's radiator cracked, spewing fluid all over the driveway. Cost? Another $800.
The good: Despite us not having registered the Suburban yet, our car insurance will cover the cost of repairing it or paying us back what we paid for it. Yay!
It *all* started... about two years ago. Okay, not entirely. I'll only take you back to June of 2007 & we'll focus just on vehicles. Our (okay, my...) beloved Dodge Durango had a problem. The oil light came on and long story short, we thought we were slick by finding a local mechanic who could replace the engine cheaper than the dealership. And getting a two-fer on top of that. My brother had bottomed out his '99 Plymouth Breeze before he moved back to Nebraska, so for the cost of the dealership fixing just the Durango, this mechanic would fix them both for just slightly more.
Well... we got the Breeze fixed first because it was cheaper and we needed a second vehicle back. We had several other financial expenditures last summer as well, but we came through okay. Made it through the holidays without going into further debt.
Back to the car... we finally have the funds to get the Durango fixed and give the guy the go ahead. So we finally get it back, but the oil light keeps coming back on and the car is filthy and the paint is scratched and marred from all the time it was in this guy's "care". Bottom line: it wsn't fixed; he didn't put in a new engine, and he ends up getting evicted from his garage building the day we tow it back there to be looked at again. So we tow it back home. Then we tow it to the dealership. (That's $75 times 3.) Well, they're not going to re-use any of the components because who knows where they came from. So another $7k to $10K if we want the dealership to fix it.
But we need a third car. During all this mess we've hired on a second full time tech who needs a vehicle he can use. But I also need a car to run errands like pick kids up from school...
Fast forward to two weeks ago. Okay we have some extra money saved. We're going to buy a couple of used cars. So my hubby searches Craig's List and we find a pair of heaps that meet our needs. Last Monday, we buy an '88 GMC Suburban. It needs to be registered so we park it in front of our house, as close to the neighbor's property line as we can to leave room for our employees to park during the day too.... Last Tuesday we buy a '99 Dodge 1500 pickup truck. Nice. I'm happy I have a truck finally. And it's paid for. No additional debt.
Now in the mean time, the tranny on the Breeze is acting up, so there's another $800. The Scion needs another oil change (we put alot of miles on our cars) and the tire went flat. (Luckily we use Discount Tires and they fixed that one for free.)
Sunday morning I jump in my new (to me) truck and... it doesn't start. Argh. Dead battery. Okay. Easily fixed, but another $100. And today? Our suburban was stolen from in front of our house in the middle of the night, in the middle of a sweep of thunderstorms.
We call the police and they miraculously find it within hours, but... it's completely un-drivable. So another car and $3K gone...
When will it all end?
Addendum (3/6/2008):
Good news and bad... The bad: Tuesday afternoon, the truck's radiator cracked, spewing fluid all over the driveway. Cost? Another $800.
The good: Despite us not having registered the Suburban yet, our car insurance will cover the cost of repairing it or paying us back what we paid for it. Yay!
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Writing...
Well, I sure didn't know how motivating a goal and accountability partners would be. My critique partners and I had a working sleepover at the beginning of February. Saturday morning before we broke up, we set our next get together, and some goals.
My short-short term goal was to complete the first (very) rough draft by March 8th. I've been able to carve out some time to write almost every day, and I think I will actually have this done.
The next goal is to have the complete manuscript (okay, so it's only approximately 15K-20K words...) done by the beginning of April, ready for my critique partners to critique. Then it'll be time to polish it up for submission by May 13th. That's the deadline at The Wild Rose Press for Valentine's Day '09 stories.
It'll be my first official submission. I'm excited about it. I'll keep you posted.
My short-short term goal was to complete the first (very) rough draft by March 8th. I've been able to carve out some time to write almost every day, and I think I will actually have this done.
The next goal is to have the complete manuscript (okay, so it's only approximately 15K-20K words...) done by the beginning of April, ready for my critique partners to critique. Then it'll be time to polish it up for submission by May 13th. That's the deadline at The Wild Rose Press for Valentine's Day '09 stories.
It'll be my first official submission. I'm excited about it. I'll keep you posted.
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